Gatt scores in Molde rout of Ranheim in Norwegian Cup

If Josh Gatt is looking to make the U.S. Men’s National Team’s final roster for the upcoming Gold Cup, he certainly helped his cause on Wednesday.

Gatt enjoyed a goal-scoring performance as his club, Molde FK, routed Ranheim, 6-0, in their fourth round NM Cupen match. Gatt scored the second goal of the game and his first across all competitions this season in the 17th minute when he pounced on a ball just outside of the six-yard box following a nifty dribbling run that penetrated Ranheim’s shoddy defense. The 21-year-old was subbed off after 57 minutes with the score at 5-0.

The timing of the goal could not have been much better for Gatt, who U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann included in his provisional 35-man roster for next month’s Gold Cup. Klinsmann has said previously that he is planning on bringing players who are in a rhythm to the CONCACAF tournament, and Gatt may fit that description given that the speedy winger with two international caps to his name is in season and fresh off of scoring for the first time in the current campaign.

34 Responses to Gatt scores in Molde rout of Ranheim in Norwegian Cup

Nice goal and he basically created a second one on his missed shot. That being said, as lost as we’ve been in how well the USMNT has been playing, i have to admit that i’m a little concerned that none of our “next generation” guys have yet to the turn the corner to bigger things: Gyau, Gatt, Wood, etc. They are all basically in the same position they were two years or so ago. I know things are going great with our national team now, but we really need one of these guys to blossom if we don’t want the cupboard bare in a few years. Keep it up Gatt!!

I don’t think it’s as linear as that. Will Japan’s 2 losses reflect badly on Europe? When Nigreia is outclassed in it’s next two games will that set CAF football back?

It’s a tourney and sometimes teams hit the right stride and sometimes they don’t. In the grand scheme of things (forgoing the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately fan approach), CONCACAF represented itself quite well in the last CC, the Olympics and some youth tournaments.

You want your confederation champ to do well, yes. But one bad tournament does not set us back.

Personally I want El Tri to get out of this funk before we meet them in September. I want to beat them when they are at their best.

Haha. Good point though. Japan doing well or poorly really only reflects on Japan. If Japan won this tournament, no one would be talking about the AFC – they’d be talking about Japan. If, say, Japan and South Korea both make the quarters next summer, then we’ll be talking about Asia. Similarly, Mexico’s struggles don’t reflect poorly on the rest of CONCACAF. You need multiple teams to do particularly well or poorly for people to start thinking in regional terms.

One strong World Cup for the region would probably have an impact. If say somehow Mexico, the US, and a third CONCACAF team all make the quarters next summer, that should help the confederation. That’ll create some real buzz for the region. But one strong or weak Confed Cup won’t make a difference, since there’s only one team per region. No one thought CONCACAF was making strides when we made the final last time.

That The “Next Generation” of USMNT players is still working their way up the ladder in their club careers is true. Players like Gyau, Gatt, Wood, Shea, Boyd, Agudelo, D. Williams, Morales, etc…are all still developing as players. But when you look at the current USMNT there really aren’t that many players who will be retiring from international compitition right after next years WC due to age.
Those on the retirement bubble likely include: Cherundolo, Boca, Gooch, Goodson, Beasley, Jones, Donovan, Dempsey, Gomez, and maybe Howard. Of these 9 players there are only 2 or 3 that have played a significant role in the 2013 Hex, and only 1 that a likely replacement hasn’t been clearly Identified (Dempsey).
I’m less worried about the next generation than I’ve ever been before. There are multiple options developing across Europe, Mexico, and the US; to the point where for the 1st time in my life we don’t have to worry about having a particular player be the ONE to carry/save us the next round.
With players like Bradley, Jozy, F. Johnson, Chandler, Besler, Gonzalez, Cameron, Edu, Zusi, & Guzan, as the Core to build around after 2014 and a fairly deep pool of developing talent (Lichaj, Shea, Gyau, Wood, Boyd, D. Williams, Morales, Gatt, Mixx, Agudelo, and a handfull of the U-20’s) the future is brighter than I’ve ever seen it.

I partially agree with you, in that we’ve got a deep pool of potential around the world and it’s likely that someone will step up. We likely will get unheralded contributors too – not too many were talking about guys like Besler and Zusi as possible 2014 starters a few years ago. I’ve become very confident that with a little more experience with the Nats (and especially working together with Timmy), Besler will become a strong captain of the backline for us.

By the same token though, I think the retirement bubble is a bit more concerning than you think. I think Dolo is kind of crucial right now, because outside of Chandler I don’t think there’s anyone else I have confidence in at RB right now. I doubt that many people four years ago thought we’d be wondering if we’re already in the post-Donovan era right now. Losing Dempsey will be a big hit for this team. And we’re not good enough on the wings and at CB as it is, let alone after retirements.

Basically, there’s just a lot of uncertainty. We’ve got enough kids developing right now that we should be in decent shape going forward, but there are no young stars clearly establishing themselves right now. Donovan and Beasley established themselves as national team regulars as 19 year olds and were stars at the World Cup less than a year later, and there’s no one right now who looks that developed at that age. Then again, they didn’t actually break into the team until late 2001/early 2002, so someone may yet step up. We just don’t know. So I think some fear about the future is fair, but not too much.

Jozy is just coming into his own. Zusi, Cameron, Beasler and Gonzalez (though not all young) are now switching into gear. My point is sometimes you get a gem early and sometimes it takes some polishing. I wouldn’t sweat 2 years. Plus by what standards are you measuring their progress? They are starting and playing regularly for their teams. Not unless the main criterion for progress is transfers – which is cool as long as these guys are playing, developing and perfecting their skills.

We have a lot of guys coming through the pipeline – in Europe and MLS. I’m not freaking out about it just yet.

Gatt really needs to move to Portugal or the Netherlands to learn technique and increase his soccer IQ. He has the physical assets, my only concern is him being able to ramp up against tougher teams. I hope he makes the Gold Cup. He offers us a ton of speed off the bench and it will be good for him to have a month learning from Donovan.

Rosenborg played yesterday, too. Mix was an unused sub I believe. I wouldn’t read too much into it considering it was a Cup game against a lower league team.

But they ARE a professional team … and he is in season and scored on a professional team. It’s kinda like my high school track & field coach once told us: “I don’t care if there’s a 40mph wind at your back, if you run a sub. 11 sec. 100M or long jump > 22′, then you will come to the next meet with the mindset that you are a sub. 11 sec. 100M man or a 22′ long jumper.

I’m sorry and who would those be? And why are they over hyped? You including Beasley in this? How is Corona and Castillo over hyped who were playing in Copa Libertadores…….something hardly anybody in our current USMNT pool can say as only a few play in europa and champions league which is the only tournaments of equal talent and quality or better than the Libertadores?

the generation in waiting: Gatt, Gyau, Wood, Agudelo etc is a step up in ability from the previous generation of US players. But by no means are they a “golden generation”. I think we will have our golden generation though;it’s just going to take time. We’ve only had youth academies for less than 5 years.Five years from now we’re going to see some technically gifted players emerge from these academies. And with more young players starting for their MLS clubs we finally have a path for these young players to actually play.

The problem we face is we don’t have the soccer infrastructure that great soccer nations have. The distance from player to club is still too far and the barriers to entry for a pro career are still too many.

The best thing for our youth development and our national team will be how will our lower divisions grow. If in 10 years we have a NASL with 18 teams and a USL with regional divisions throughout the country, then I think we are well on our way to becoming a soccer superpower.

First goal was really nice. Gatt’s was solid too, if a bit lucky. Gatt is decent at cutting in and attacking, but if he really wants to stake out a place on the Nats, he should work on his crossing. We need wingers with speed and who can provide service to Jozy and Dempsey first and foremost. Creative attacking is secondary IMO.